Author: Lynne Lewis

The Rug Merchant has been in the rug business for over 45 years, and we know that buying an area rug can be an investment. That’s why we put such an emphasis on educating our customers; not only on what kind of rug to buy, but also how to take care of it. Because, no one wants to spend hundreds of dollars on floor coverings just for them to wear out in a couple of years.

What’s one of the most effective ways to keep your area rugs clean on a day to day basis? Vacuuming, of course! But are you vacuuming your rug correctly?

Most vacuums have a few different settings. You can choose to use them on hardwood, tile, low pile, or high pile area rugs. Depending on which option you choose, your vacuums beater bar will move up or down. The beater bar is designed to work cohesively with the suction of the vacuum to gently sweep any debris up into the suction hose. Beater bars should only be used on hard surfaces and low nap carpets and area rugs. If you have an area rug with large loops or a higher pile, make sure to adjust your vacuum to insure the beat bar won’t pull the yarn. Over time, this will damage the rug.

Never vacuum over fringe! This will quickly damage the ends of your area rug. To remove dust or dirt from fringe, simply use the brush attachment.

What is the best way to clean your area rug? The answer may surprise you.

Let’s say you decide to have a dinner party and one of your guests accidentally spills a glass of red wine on your brand new wool area rug from The Rug Merchant. The first thing that wool rug is going to do is suck the wine straight into the fibers. While the scenario might seem all too real, the solution to make the mess disappear is simple and probably already in your cabinet.

WATER AND WHITE VINEGAR.

Add a couple tablespoons of vinegar to a glass of tap water and saturate the area. Once the area has been saturated, blot with a clean towel. DO NOT RUB.

This solution can be used on wool or synthetic area rugs.

Let’s imagine the same scenario only this time, it happens to your synthetic area rug. Synthetic area rugs are just as easy clean. Because synthetics are sealed with a stain-guard, when spilled, the liquid will bead up at the surface. To remove the liquid, just lightly dampen the area and blot clean with a paper towel or cloth.

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Now let’s say that during said dinner party, you do everything right and clean up the mess with your solution of water and vinegar, but a few days later you notice a spot was missed. What should you do? Well, if you’re dealing with a wool rug, just repeat the saturate-blot-repeat method until the stain is gone. If your working with a synthetic rug, you may have a bigger problem on your hands.

Once a synthetic rug is produced, it is finished off with a stain guard, or scotch guard. This helps to protect the rug from immediate stains by beading up the stain on the surface of the rug which makes for an easy clean up. But these stain guards are only warrantied for 48 hours. After that 48 hours, the stain penetrates the stain guard and now what kept the stain out is going to keep any cleaner out, as well.

So why does the stain come out of the wool rug? Isn’t wool a sensitive natural fiber?

Wool is a porous, natural fiber, and very resilient. It also has a natural stain guard, called lanolin. So once the liquid is spilled, the wool soaks it up and the water and vinegar flush it right back out.

Be sure to always vacuum your rugs with the beater bar on high or off and for a serious rug cleaning, see your local professional area rug cleaner as needed.

Here lately, you’ve probably heard the phrase “Shop Local” more than a few times. The market is booming and small local businesses are popping up all over the Tri-State. But why shop local?

Most would rationale that by shopping local, we are supporting our community and our neighbors. Here at The Rug Merchant, we agree with this ration. But we also agree that we should EARN your business.

With the world at our fingertips, it’s important for local businesses to stay competitive with the internet. The Rug Merchant is no different. For more than 40 years, we’ve been staying in sync with the ebb and flow of the retail market, following the trends and pricing our inventory accordingly. We challenge every customer who walks into our store to do their due diligence and shop around to find the best price. We strive to provide all of our customers with expert advice, quality product, and the lowest prices.

Did you know rugs serve a specific purpose? While there are many beautiful area rugs in the market, they aren’t just accessories. Here are just a few ways area rugs can improve your space.

Area rugs define your area. Area rugs are meant to bring your space together. For instance, a living room typically has a couch, coffee table, and maybe a chair or two. To place an area rug big enough for just the coffee table to sit on doesn’t serve purpose to your space. Using a larger rug, one that, at the very least, rests in front of the furniture gives the space a more defined sense of purpose.

2.Area rugs reduce noise. Have you ever replaced your carpet with hardwood and noticed your space being much louder? That’s because hard surfaces reflect sound. Area rugs help to absorb the noise so your home can be a quieter, more peaceful living space. Perfect for households with children or pets!

4.Area rugs protect your floors! I know what your thinking, “I just spent a ton of money on my beautiful floors. I don’t want to cover them up with an area rug!” Trust us, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by preserving your floors with an area rug, while also adding a pop of style!

By now you’ve learned about types of rugs, and have discovered some ways to discuss your style with your Rug Merchant. In this installment of Rugs 101 you’ll learn everything you need to know about choosing the best size rug for your space, and placing it in a way that compliments all your other furniture and decor and pulls together your space in just the way you want.

What is an Area Rug?

Simply, an area rug defines a given area of your home. In most cases this is a furniture arrangement of some sort, and yes, you can have more than one ‘area’ in a single room!

Defining Living Room or Den Areas

For instance, in a living room or den what your rug should do is UNITE all elements of the furniture in the arrangement. It’s simpler than you think:

DO: make sure the rug touches all major pieces of furniture in the area.

DON’T: let your rug float out in the middle of the floor!

Once it touches the furniture, there is no right or wrong. The rug can be just touching the edge of the furniture or keep going all the way past the back of the furniture piece or stop anywhere in between. The only boundary is how much of the floor you want to cover.

Right

Ella Collection

Defining the Dining Area

A dining area rug placement is a little more involved:

Measure the length and width of your table

Add about 3 feet to these measurements.

EXAMPLE: Width-3’6, Length-6′. Rug size- 6×9 or larger.

This is the minimum length and width for your rug size to make sure that all chairs stay on the rug when they are pulled out. An area rug that’s too small may look good when no one is sitting at the table, but as soon as the chairs get pulled out, the back legs will be off the rug. Not only is it hard on the rug with the chair legs catching on it all the time, it will drive you crazy at dinnertime. Trust us; we’ve been doing this for 40 years!

Wrong

Anastasia Collection

Bedroom Placement

Compared to other rooms, the proper placement of your rug in the bedroom is more relaxed and comes down to personal taste. Your main concerns here are:

Do you want your feet land on the rug when you get out of bed?

How much of the rug do you want to show at the foot of the bed?

You have several choices here. Depending on the size of your bed you can get a rug that goes under your bed about two-thirds of the way, if you want your feet to land on it. Or just a little way under. Or if you don’t want a lot of your rug under the bed, you can use a couple of runners, one on each side of the bed, and another rug at the foot of the bed. These don’t even have to be exactly the same, just coordinating. We can help you explore a few different options to see what is your favorite!

Beckely Shag Collection

Vintage Collection

Valencia Collection

A lot of things to think about, but really only four main points to remember:

A rug should touch all pieces of furniture in a setting.

Dining room chairs should stay on the rug at all times.

Bedroom rugs are more about comfort and aesthetics.

There is no exact amount of flooring that needs to be showing around the rug.